Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Le Petit Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc, 2025 - Magnum
Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Le Petit Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc, 2025 - Magnum
- 150cl
- 13.5%
- White Still
- Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon
- Organic
- Biodynamic
Please note, en primeur wines are not available for delivery until they arrive in the UK
Couldn't load pickup availability
Enquire about this item
Est. delivery in 2028
Smith Haut Lafitte's second white wine brings the estate's signature precision to a more approachable price point. Made from the younger vines and parcels that don't make it into the grand vin, this Pessac-Léognan blanc still carries the DNA of one of Bordeaux's finest white wine producers.
What the critics say:
"Bright, textural, linear and marked by a fibrous, stony texture. It’s savory, saline, mouthwatering and exceptional."
"Light yellow-green, silver reflections. Somewhat restrained, fine yellow tropical fruit, a hint of blossom honey, fresh pear fruit. Balanced, silky texture, white fruit, delicate hints of peach, finesse-rich structure, mineral-salty finish, harmonious style, powerful finish, versatile and with ageing potential."
"Slightly waxy, wool, lemon and pear, caramel, lemon, honey, straw, quince. Cool and slightly creamy with a slightly vanilla peach pear aspect. I love the clarity and purity to this, it’s both slightly round and slightly streamlined thanks to the ripe fruit and crisp acidity. Clearly less dense and concentrated than past vintages although there's a soft richness and long length. I like the flavour combination, with a touch of bitterness on the very finish. Picked whites 20 August – 2 September. A yield of 18hl/ha."
The vineyards sit on the classic Graves gravel soils that give the region its name, with deeper clay-limestone subsoils providing water retention. This well-drained terroir, combined with the estate's higher elevation, creates ideal conditions for both reds and whites. The white wine parcels benefit from morning sun exposure while staying cooler in the afternoons, preserving natural acidity while allowing full phenolic ripeness.
Pessac-Léognan was carved out of the larger Graves appellation in 1987 to recognise the superior terroir closest to Bordeaux city. Unlike other Bordeaux appellations focused on reds, Pessac-Léognan produces some of the world's finest dry white wines alongside structured reds. The appellation's gravel soils and slightly warmer microclimate allow Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon to reach perfect ripeness while maintaining the mineral freshness that defines great white Bordeaux.
The 2025 Bordeaux vintage emerged from one of the most demanding growing seasons in recent memory — the earliest budbreak since 1989, June temperatures second only to 2003 since records began, and an unusually early harvest beginning in August for the whites. Conditions that should have produced heavy, overripe wines. They didn't. Decanter's Georgie Hindle, who tasted close to 200 wines ahead of the formal campaign, describes "exceptional concentration, aromatic purity and a freshness that contradicts the record-breaking heat.
The early critical consensus places 2025 stylistically between the precision of 2020 and the structure of 2016, with the brightness of 2023 — a combination that suggests a very serious vintage indeed. Yields are dramatically low, the smallest crop since 1991, with production across the Gironde running around 15% below the five-year average. The quality is here. There simply isn't very much of it.
